Following major disasters like the tsunami in Asia or the earthquake in Haiti, most of us remember very well the Red Cross establishing a number we could text to donate to relief efforts. Like most successful ideas, ‘text to donate’ campaigns are being replicated in other venues.

Many charity groups are integrating the ability for guests at their fundraising dinners to text to make a donation, often at the emotion height of the evening. This provides them the ability to capture the momentthat an individual is most likely to want to support the cause. In the fundraising world, it’s as close to instant gratification as you can get. We have recently seen this happen at events held by the Human Rights Campaign, Gay Lesbian Straight Education Network and the Trevor Project

Other organizations are also embracing it outside of ‘in the moment’ scenarios such as charity dinners. One great example is the National AIDS Memorial Grove‘Light in the Grove 2012’ campaign. Anyone with a cell phone can text ‘HEAL’ to 501501 to donate $10.00 to support the work of the memorial. Troup Consulting client AT&T is underwriting the cost of the campaign, so every bit of the donations will go directly to the National AIDS Memorial.

As Troup Consulting recognizes these emerging trends in how social media and other new approaches are being used to support philanthropy and promote diversity in business, we will be certain to bring them to yourattention. We pride ourselves on being on the cutting edge on ways to reach the goals of our clients and organizations that we support.